Gwynedd has reported 17 new cases of coronavirus today.

The latest figures, released this lunchtime by Public Health Wales, shows that after weeks of small daily increases in Covid-19 cases, Gwynedd has today recorded 17 new cases over the past 24 hours.

Health chiefs have said though that these figures are likely to be an underestimate as there has been a lag in receiving data in recent days.

Elsewhere, 39 new coronavirus cases reported in Hywel Dda Health Board region, with six cases recorded in Ceredigion, nine in Pembrokeshire and 24 in Carmarthenshire.

No additional deaths have been recorded in Hywel Dda, with the total number of people who have died with coronavirus standing at 147.

562 deaths have been recorded in the Betsi Cadwaladr region of North Wales and 29 have been recorded in Powys, which reported eight new cases of Covid-19 today.

There were 615 new cases reported across Wales with Public Health Wales recording nine new deaths.

Wales now has had a total of 102,568 cases and 2,891 people have died with suspected Covid-19.

Figures were not published on Sunday, 13 December following maintenance to the NHS Wales Laboratory Information Management System.

Public Health Wales has said there will be a “period of data reconciliation and validation that will affect our daily reporting figures for several days”.

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “We are very concerned at the alarming rise in rates of coronavirus in nearly every part of Wales which is putting NHS Wales under extreme pressure, and shows no signs of abating.

“If at all possible, we would advise the public not to mix with other households now, and to consider carefully if it is still safe to form a Christmas ‘bubble’ with other households. Coronavirus spreads fastest when we are indoors with others, and gathering together for Christmas represents a significant risk of transmission, and increased cases will result in increased pressures on already stretched NHS services.

“We would advise the public that if they still want to have meaningful and safe interactions within the permitted exclusive Christmas ‘bubble’, then it is vital that you plan ahead, consider the risks involved and decide what would be safest for you and your loved ones.

“This means staying out of other people’s homes, limiting the times and the numbers of people that you meet, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene, working from home if you can, and self-isolating if you show symptoms of coronavirus or are asked to do so by contact tracers.”